Professor Kerridwen Luis has chosen Rica ‘tte Kanji!? by Rica Takashima as a textbook for Anthropology 166B at Brandeis University, for the Spring 2006 semester.

Professor Luis describes the class: “This class will cover some (not all!) of the current ethnography dealing with non-heteronormative sexualities cross-culturally. Why “non-heteronormative” instead of “non-heterosexual?” Well, the divide between hetero- and homo- that Western culture tends to insist on may not exist in other cultures. Since sexuality is complex, it is difficult to apply our own assumptions and labels (such as “gay, lesbian, bisexual”) to the desires, loves, and sexual activity of other people– boundaries may be more fluid (or more rigid) and identities differently constructed. Sexuality may even impact gender and the body; the formation of identities in different cultural contexts may be a two-way street. This class will examine how those identities are created, some of the vast array of diverse human activity in this area, how the social sciences have handled this topic, and how different perspectives, race, class, culture, and ethnicity all influence how these matters are viewed.”

Keridwen N. Luis is a Ph.D. student in Anthropology at Brandeis University. Her study interests include folk conceptions of culture and culture theory, women’s studies, gender studies, nonheternormative sexualities, intentional communities, consciously created culture, ghost story narratives and belief, personhood, agency and identity.

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